Ti flashed by, and that day, a soldier brought in so food. Upon reaching the depths of the Prison, he handed the al only to Huang Quanjiu’s hands and then, there was no other portion delivered.
Huang Quanjiu took the al and, just like before, looked across at Ruan Chao’en with eyes full of mockery. The two of them were now completely at loggerheads.
Ruan Chao’en watched as the soldier finished delivering Huang Quanjiu’s al and chatted with Huang for a bit before walking away without the slightest intention of acknowledging him. Ruan’s heart grew heavy. When he had first arrived at the Prison, there had been regular als, but as ti passed, the interval between als grew longer, transitioning from two als a day to just one. Ruan had wanted to express his anger, but with Huang present, he was conscious of his dignity and forcefully held it back.
But his silence only seed to embolden the behavior from outside. The provision of als went from once a day to every few days and now, it had entirely stopped, as if they had forgotten there was still a general who had been cast out, languishing sowhere within the darkness of the Prison.
anwhile, Huang Quanjiu was living a life virtually identical to the one he had when he first entered the Prison—unchanged. That was what made Ruan suspect sothing.
Drip, drip, drip~
The soldier walked towards the exit, and before his figure faded from sight, Ruan Chao’en hurriedly called out to him.
"Hey, boy!"
Upon hearing Ruan’s voice, the soldier knew he was dealing with a high-ranking general, soone he dared not provoke, and quickly turned back, feigning respect as he asked, "Ruan Chao’en, what do you need?"
"Has the person bringing my al arrived yet?" Ruan asked, suppressing the rage in his heart.
The soldier shook his head and apologetically replied to Ruan, "I’m sorry, General Ruan, I haven’t seen them."
Ruan narrowed his eyes and, in that mont, he noticed the na tag on the soldier’s chest—a Soldier of the Second Army Corps. He felt like he had guessed sothing and then looked towards Huang Quanjiu.
For a mont, neither had anything to say, and the soldier who had brought food for Huang, seeing no one paid him any mind, quickly turned and hastened his steps to run out.
"What are you looking at for?" Seeing Ruan’s current state, Huang Quanjiu felt a surge of satisfaction as the pain from every punch Ruan had pumled him with seed to lessen in that mont.
"Don’t look at like that... You wouldn’t be unaware, would you? When the two of us were locked up here, the headquarters already drastically reduced the supplies allotted to our two corps, right? Besides, these als are delivered by my subordinates."
"And what about my people?"
Ruan coldly asked, looking at Huang.
Huang just laughed and didn’t speak. Ruan’s eyes glead with a vicious light; he almost knew that compared to what the Second Army Corps had done, his own actions seed more severe, and that’s why the head office had been harsher on the soldiers of the Eighth Army Corps. During this ti, he hadn’t seen any Soldier of the Eighth Army Corps out on duty, and he had a pretty good idea of the situation.
Sky spoke up, "Well, Ruan, the Peace Party never mandated that soldiers must deliver als to their superiors. And given the current situation, you should be aware that our brothers are quite busy. How could they find the ti to spare? You should know that deserting duty is a grave matter. You dare to defy the rules of the Peace Party, but your fellow soldiers wouldn’t dare take that risk, as they’re not as fortunate as you."
These words from Sky made Ruan Chao’en wish he could tear through the prison bars in front of him and beat Sky senseless, but he couldn’t. Instead, he was filled with regret and resentnt towards the Eighth Army Corps. He had almost risked entering the gates of hell for them, yet they hesitated at the first sign of trouble.
Ruan Chao’en said nothing more, silently lying on the bed, beginning to feel the hunger that was gradually overtaking his body. The new human class like himself required a massive intake of calories, and although his physique allowed soone as strong as Ruan Chao’en to go without food and water for several days, once past this limit, the new human class could indeed starve to death!
The sensation of hunger made Ruan Chao’en toss and turn restlessly on the tal bed.
Several days passed like this, and by that afternoon, Ruan Chao’en’s stomach began to make gurgling noises. He could no longer bear the hunger!
Sky, who was sitting nearby, wanted to laugh. He ate the still-warm als that had just been brought in with great relish, causing Ruan Chao’en to drool. This sensation almost took him back to those first few months after the end of the world had begun.
This period had been tough on Ruan Chao’en. The law enforcent departnt had busy the Eighth Army Corps with the most taxing labor and drills, leaving them no ti whatsoever. And it should be ntioned that this was a punishnt for the Eighth Army Corps, and punishnt was never ant to be light.
So, although the Eighth Army Corps wasn’t in the eighteenth building, their lives were quite similar to those which Xu Qiang, the dimwit, and Xiao Hu spent there.
Everyone was so exhausted that they barely made it to their dormitory to rest, only to face another day of toil the next day.
No one dared leave during this ti because any departure would be considered desertion. The law enforcent would then send people to pursue and potentially attack, even if soone showed minimal resistance.
Even if soone managed to find ti to bring food to Ruan Chao’en, they would be forcibly stopped by the Soldier of the Second Army Corps!
This was the Second Army Corps’ way of targeting the Eighth Army Corps, causing Ruan Chao’en to go a long ti without food to sate his hunger.
Gurgling, gurgling~
The sound of his stomach growling was so clear in the eerie silence of the Prison. It seed Sky could no longer bear it and said, "Hey Ruan, want so? I’m no saint, but I do have a heart."
Looking at the little food Sky pushed forward, Ruan Chao’en swallowed his saliva, barely able to stop his hand from reaching out, but upon seeing Sky’s face, Ruan Chao’en, fueled by so newfound defiance, turned his head away, snubbing the offer with haughty disdain.
Sky chuckled, pulling the al back to himself and continued eating, leaving Ruan Chao’en internally lanting the missed opportunity. Yet, he also felt a wave of sadness. His brothers from the Eighth Army Corps hadn’t shown up until now. He regretted the actions he had taken even more, as this was the end of the world where standing up for others was inherently irrational. But, there was no going back, and the Eighth Army Corps turned out to be unreliable.
"Let’s go, it’s alti,"
Just then, the faint sound of conversation reached Ruan Chao’en’s ears from outside, perhaps the ntion of alti caused his body to shudder.
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